Guilt and Betrayal
by ParadigmShifter
Summary: B/X COMPLETE! Sequel to 'The Mark of Kayn' In the aftermath, Xander is a wreck, while Adam stalks Sunnydale for his creators murderer...


Disclaimer: Buffy and its spin offs are owned by Joss, WB, UPN et al. If you actually believed I own them, you live on Cloud Nine. If you're there, why don't you think you own them, eh?

Title: Guilt and Betrayal.

Author: Paradigm Shifter

Rating: R, I suppose. To be on the safe side.

Pairing: Buffy/Xander. B/X Forever!

Feedback: Yes, please. 

Thanks to: Hitmanhand, WBH21C, White Werewolf, TopQuark, Sedeyus and RobClark and Sherif. Glad you liked it.

Darth Vader moment within!!!

Continuity: Sequel to Mark of Kayn. Same series spoilers. NB: Goes totally off on a different track with Adam. Other nasties pop up.

Notes: In the aftermath of the Kayn fight, Xander is an emotional wreck. Adam stalks Sunnydale, looking for his creator's murderer.

*

"Where the friggin' 'ell do you keep the blood, mate? I can't find it anywhere!"

"Shut up, Spike. I'm on the phone!" called Giles back.

"Fine!" Grumbled Spike. "Leave the person who saved you in the fight against Kayn in the shit. If I stake myself don't be surprised!" Both he and Giles knew it was a limp threat.

"I'm sorry Buffy. Please continue, how is Xander?" asked Giles, concerned for the health of the young man who was 'chosen' by the latest 'big bad' and just made it out alive.

~Physically, he's fine. Its just the psychological trauma he's suffered when the Avatar.~

"Has he told you what had happened when he was the Avatar?"

~No,~ said Buffy worriedly, ~he still refuses to tell anyone. Says that its too terrible, and that he caused it, so he should carry the burden.~

"I'm worried, Buffy. The pain over what Kayn caused could drive him mad. Also, after further consultation with my friend, it appears that he will have the guilt from every other Avatar host. Even if he did very little, what the previous ones did will drive him insane."

~I know. Hw wont let anyone but me near him. Even my mom got a stream of swearwords strong enough to make Spike blush flung at her. But she doesn't blame Xander. Or at least, she's trying not to. But she saw the Avatar on the news. She didn't half go on at me when we got back.~

"Has the armour been removed?" asked Giles suddenly. It had resisted all attempts to shift it when they were taking Xander to Buffy's house.

~Sort of.~ Buffy sounded uncomfortable. ~When we tried to remove it, Xander screamed so loud I thought it would burst my ear drums.~ She continued more quietly, ~I love him, Giles, but I can't help him.~ 

"Was the armour removed then?" When Giles had a puzzle, he wouldn't back down.

~Xander stopped tearing himself up long enough to get us both to leave the room. Only, I left the door open a crack, I looked inside after he ushered us out, and the armour vanished. Kind of dissolved. All Xander did was close his eyes for a second.~

"That's odd. The Avatar proper could only do that with the helm."

~Yeah.~ Buffy sounded worried, or more so.

"I wouldn't worry Buffy. It's just strange that the Avatars powers become more pronounced after he regains his humanity. I'll do some research, but I don't think there's much more to find."

~Thanks, Giles. Have you heard from Willow and Oz?~

"No, have you?"

~Not yet. I was there when they announced that they had to take a short break to get over the whole Kayn thing. I think Oz wants to find out about the transformation as well.~

"I sincerely wish Willow hadn't gone. Xander will need her to recover, I fear."

~Possibly, but Oz doesn't need Xander. You don't have to be psychic to realise that Oz blames Xander for Willows injury.~ Buffy left it unspoken that Xander had nearly killed Oz while he was in wolf form.

"That is foolish. It wasn't Xander, it was the Avatar."

~True. But Oz is in love, and you know what that's like.~ Buffy spoke wryly, thinking of her doomed-from-the-minute-it-started love affair with Angel, for some reason, she could now recall it with no anger or pain, just detachment for something ended. Something that would never again be.

"Yes." Giles thought of his own tragically short love with Jenny Calendar, cut short by the evil incarnation of Buffy's ex-lover.

~Anything else? I need to get back to Xander nursing.~

"No, no. Goodbye, Buffy."

~Ciao, Giles.~

*

Over the next few weeks, Adam laid low, building up his power base. After two weeks, nine tenths of Sunnydale's vampires and demons bowed to him. Those that didn't… died.

*

On the Xander front, he made some progress, although not as much as Buffy hoped. He would actually talk to people now, although they were lucky if anyone but Buffy or her mother got anything more than one or two words out of him. He stopped the constant crying, but a permanently haunted look graced his features. A body only 19 years old, but a mind that had a thousand lifetimes of sorrow and anguish to battle against. His eyes seemed older and sadder than anyone could possibly look, at least, Buffy thought that.

He told Buffy what he had done in the Initiative labs, although Buffy had the distinct feeling that he didn't tell her everything, she comforted him as best she could. When he told her about killing Riley, she just looked slightly sad, but quipped that 'at least there would be no unpleasant break-up'. That thought set Xander off again, sobbing and wailing. In his more violent and self-destructive moments, Buffy could not leave him, in case he decided to put his head through a wall or something, after all; he proved he could do it with his fist. It wouldn't really hurt him if he did; just damage the house. Major construction bills were not a planned part of the Slayers budgeting.

Giles saw very little point in staying with Xander, as it could mean Buffy got hurt in one of the extremely violent fits, but Buffy was the only person who could coax him out of them. Even while Xander was now many times stronger than Buffy, she could always hold him down, as if some mental block prevented him from harming her.

He progressed, but very slowly.

*

Buffy was so worried about him that she got Giles to call Angel in LA and see if he could bring the 'Angel Investigations' team down.

When they arrived, Buffy explained what had happened, giving them the cliff-notes version, while her mother looked after Xander. Giles and Spike were there too. Spikes face when Angel walked through the door was a picture.

"Peaches! When did you get back from the City of Lost Angels?"

Angel just growled at his childe, and started an introduction for the people that didn't know each other. "Buffy, Giles, Spike," he spat the name, "this is Wesley, as you know, and Gunn," Angel indicated the tall solidly built man behind him, "and Fred." He waved at the brunette woman off to the left of him.

Gunn just grunted a hello. Fred started to babble. "Oh it's so nice to finally meet you all, Angel and Cordelia have told me so…"

Wesley cut in, to stop Fred from continuing for the next hour. "Is there something we can do for you, Buffy? Rupert said it was important on the phone."

"Yeah. There is. Its Xander."

Cordelia's head snapped up. While they officially hated each other after breaking up, each had a soft spot for the other. "What about Xander? He wasn't hurt or anything was he? Cause if he was…"

Buffy cut her off shaking her head. "No, he's not hurt. Not physically anyway. More sort of…mentally."

"Mentally?" Cordelia's voice was like ice.

Buffy sighed. "Maybe I'd better tell you what happened…"

"Yes. That might be a good idea." Said Angel; still unsure about what was going on, but certain that Buffy had got over him and privately hurt at that, because she barely twitched when he walked through the door. His undead heart still held a deep love for the blonde Slayer, and he wanted to remember her as his. Selfish, perhaps, but that was the way it was.

"OK."

"Buffy." Giles voice cut through the room. She looked at him. "I'll fill them in, if you want. Go check on Xander." Buffy smiled gratefully and quickly climbed the stairs.

After she left, Angel wanted to know what the hell was wrong with Xander to leave her like that.

"Its quite simple really," said Giles, as if talking to a nine year old. "She loves him."

"Buffy… Xander… Love?" Angel managed to choke out.

Giles nodded the affirmative. "Yes."

"Start at the top." Angel voice left no room for argument.

"Right… I got a call from an old friend of mine in the Council…" Wesley's head shot up at that, "that a sarcophagus had been uncovered in France, and that it had gone missing. My friend had been chosen, well, not so much hosen as forced really, but I digress, to act as the vessel in a ritual that lost knowledge about the sarcophagus, and its contents, would pour into. His family were sacrificed as part of the ritual, they were the catalyst." Wesley winced at that news. The Council must have been _desperate_. "Anyway, the Tomb had contents one: a demon known as Kayn." Angel's eyes widened, Wesley gripped the chair he was standing behind for support, like he was going to faint, and Cordelia, Fred and Gunn merely looked puzzled. "Who's…" started Cordelia, but an almost savage look from Angel stopped her. It said, quite clearly; no interruptions. "He came to Sunnydale, and was quite content to help us keep vampire number down for a short while. Then he Marked Xander." Wesley did finally succumb to the fainting fit this time.

"Somebody get a glass of water to wake that snotty little prick up!" snarled Spike, but it lacked the venom necessary to make it a threat.

*

Once Wesley was back on his feet, and embarrassed for the fainting spell, Giles continued. "It was fine until Xander was called. We tried several experiments on him to see what happened. Punches, kicks, crossbow bolts, even armour piercing bullets couldn't touch him. He was called, and apparently in limbo until Kayn made him a distraction for his return to Hell. He was placed in downtown Sunnydale, near the warehouses. In his little rampage as the Avatar of Kayn, he killed two drug smuggling rings, one of which the SPD wanted very badly for murdering five cops, several homeless bums, and a hell of a lot of vampires." At this point, Angel's eyes looked like they'd fall out of his head if they got any wider. "The Initiative, a military organisation who were capturing vamps and other nightly nasties for experiments then succeeded in capturing him."

"How? The Avatar's are supposed to be practically invulnerable, aren't they?" asked Wesley.

"Stuck a friggin' chip in me 'ead!" growled Spike, slightly behind. The blood he was holding had vodka in it.

"Practically, I am afraid, is the operative word. They overloaded his central nervous system with electricity. But he escaped from the Initiative and killed everyone in the base. Fair justice I'd say. Then he appeared at the Masters lair, where we were confronting Kayn. Spike escaped from the Initiative base thanks to Xander. Even as an Avatar he could still remember some things. Spike helped us in the battle against Kayn. Nearly had his head taken off by Xander, and the Sword of Kayn."

"Where is the sword now?" asked Angel worriedly.

"Hilt deep in the bedrock of the Masters lair." Replied Giles. "No one will be able to remove it." Giles spoke confidently.

"Except…" Angel trailed off.

"Except what?" asked Giles.

Angel sighed. "Cordelia got a vision from the Powers that Be about Kayn's return. Only Wesley and I understood it, and we didn't clue the others in." Angel sounded slightly guilty. "It was probably too dangerous to tell them if we weren't going to do anything anyway. The main hint was 'keep the hell out of it or we'll flay your souls' needless to say; we kept out of it. My soul doesn't need any more flaying, and I'm pretty sure the other wouldn't enjoy it. She got a further vision three days ago of a vampire dressed in purple, who would use the sword of Kayn against it's wielder. The vamp looked like a Greek called Krystos."

Spike gulped, and Angel nodded at him.

"If you're thinking of 'that' Krystos, you're correct. He's three thousand years old."

Giles looked shocked. A three thousand year old vampire? Not. Good. How had he escaped Council knowledge?

Spike looked up and spoke, "Yeah. Real nasty son-of-a-bitch, I'm nearly 200 years old, and Peaches there is 240 plus, and we're pretty old as far as vamps go now. Also, you think we're strong? As a vamp ages, it gets more powerful. Peaches and me have strength about ten times that of a person. We also have rudimentary Hypnosis abilities. I can just about control a rat, and Peaches can probably just about convince a person he isn't there, if he pushes himself." Angel nodded, a small smile tugging his lips; he'd used that more than once when trying to avoid an angry Cordelia. "Krystos will be able to mind control, and physically manipulate, about 10 people at once. He will also have about 20 to 50 times our strength, let alone yours." He waved at the assembled group. "And as a final added bonus, ladies and gentlemen, he may be able to fly short distances."

"Buffy beat the Master, I'm sure she'll manage another." Giles tried to sound confident, and failed, at least to his own ears, and the ears of the two vampires.

Spike just snorted. Angel took up the explanation again. "The Master was just over 750 years old. He wiped the floor with me when I tried to stop him. Buffy died, and was only resuscitated by Xander. Krystos will murder her, no problems."

"Why hasn't the Council informed us of that?" wondered Giles out loud.

"Maybe they want Buffy to die. After all, she has told them to stuff it, and another Slayer can't be called until Faith or Buffy dies." Suggested Wesley.

"Anyway," said Cordelia forcefully, "returning to the original topic of conversation: what about Xander?"

"He hasn't really recovered from the guilt of being the Avatar, and I fear he may not. I was hoping that seeing a few old friends would help him recover."

"OK." Said Cordelia. "Lets go see him then."

Angel, Giles and Cordelia trooped upstairs, leaving Gunn, Fred and Wesley alone with Spike.

*

Thanks to Slayer hearing, and abilities left by the Avatar, Buffy and Xander had heard the conversation downstairs perfectly. They looked at each other.

"Krystos?" mouthed Buffy.

Xander shrugged, and offered "I could look into the memories of the previous Avatars if you want. See if I could find anything."

"Sure it won't make you more guilty?" asked Buffy, concerned.

"Nah. I can't get any worse, already hit rock bottom on the guilt-o-meter."

Buffy smiled, even with Xander tearing himself up, some of his sense of humour remained. Xander closed his eyes.

~Flashback~

The Avatar that had been known as Jacques stood on the mountain and roared his challenge to the last vampire remaining in Greece. Kayn demanded the death of Krystos, and death the Avatar would give him. From in the small chapel in which Krystos had taken refuge, an answering roar was heard. They could never resist a challenge.

The Avatar started down the slope. Blood would follow. The Sword of Kayn materialised in his hand, quickly being raised to slash through the wall of the chapel, one of the many dotted throughout the small Greek islands. Fighting on Holy ground held no problems for Kayn or his Avatar. If God wanted to strike them down, fine, otherwise, they were not about to let something as insignificant as a blessing stop them from killing their opponents.

Krystos was inside. Powering through the wall, the Avatar scanned the small room he had entered, puzzled as to where his target could be. Looking around, he spotted a trap door in the floor. Closing his fist round the opening handle, the Avatar pulled, and the trap door flew across the room and out through the hole in the wall.

Five minutes later, a poor Greek fisherman wondered which of the Gods had chosen to dislike him, as his boat was sunk in deep water, by a flying trap door.

Jumping down the hole, the Avatar shifted his grip on the blade, reversing it, and stabbed backwards at the slight noise that emanated from close behind him. Krystos was taken in the stomach by the blade, and gurgled his rage as he collapsed on the floor.

The Avatar then changed his grip again and turned, only to find Krystos healed and hanging in the air like some sort of Fallen Angel. His bare foot snapped out, taking the Avatar underneath the chin, and lifting him off his feet into the opposite wall.

The Avatar was not injured badly, but was knocked out by the blow. The black armour that was his trademark slowly slid from his body, withdrawing like a liquid to leave the Avatar virtually helpless against the master vampire.

Krystos bend down and picked up the fallen Avatar, pulling his head to the side to expose his neck. 

Ducking, Krystos fed off of the unconscious Avatar. Finally, picking up the very blade that had pierced him, Krystos struck the head off of the Avatar in a blood-induced fury.

~End Flashback~

"Oh, damn it." Xander was amazed at what had happened to a seemingly unbeatable creature. It didn't fill him with confidence.

"What?" asked Buffy, "didn't you find anything?"

"I found plenty Buff. In fact, more than I wanted to know. The reason Krystos is so strong is that he managed to beat an Avatar through trickery, and then fed off of him. If it wasn't for that, he could have been around at the same time as the dinosaurs and he would have half as much power as he does now. He is the only other person but me that could possibly wield the Sword of Kayn."

"Oh."

"I learnt another thing. When I'm not totally aware of what is going on, i.e. I'm taken by surprise and don't know something is coming, I can be knocked out. Also, the armour retracts when I'm unconscious. Like the Avatar leaves, or something."

Buffy and Xander just sat there, thinking all this through, when Cordelia and Angel came through the door.

"Hi, Cor." Xander could work up no enthusiasm. "Hi, Dead-boy."

"Hello, Xander." Cordelia's voice sounded almost tender.

Xander looked hard at Angel, and said, "Don't you two have something to tell us?"

Buffy looked on, unsure what was going on.

Angel just looked uncomfortable around Buffy, but Cordelia bit the bullet and explained, "Angel and I have been seeing each other for a month now. Sorry we didn't phone and tell you."

Buffy looked surprised, but when Xander opened his mouth to answer just took hold of his hand and squeezed gently. "You know we wouldn't hold it against you, Cordy. Neither me and you or Buffy and Angel are together any more, so don't worry, after all, Buffy and I probably should have called you as well if were gonna be like that. Although," he said dryly, "it hasn't been going quite that long for us."

Buffy looked impressed at the speech, the longest Xander had formed since his guilt trip. Cordelia just looked grateful.

Angel opened his mouth. "If you don't want us for anything else right now, Buffy, we'd best be heading back to LA. We've got a case we really need to finish."

"Oh? What case is that?" Xander sounded interested.

"What Wolfram and Hart were doing trying to ship a sarcophagus from France." Angel answered matter-of-factly.

Buffy and Xander just looked at each other. Yet another piece to a puzzle that just didn't make any sense.

"Bye, Xander." Said Cordelia. Angel followed her out, but just out of the door, turned and said to Xander, "You're doing well, kid. When the gypsies gave me my soul back, it took me nearly 70 years to get as far as you have. And I had one maniacs score sheet to my name."

Xander smiled weakly, and nodded.

*

The next day, Adam moved. Vampires had been building their numbers up after the decimation they had been made to suffer at the hands of Kayn and his Avatar.

He chose to attack the mall. Perfect target, lots of innocent people, large and has am excellent sewer supply to move vampires in, under cover of daylight. No one would expect vampire movement during the day.

The first thing any of the Slayerettes heard about the attack on the mall was when an SPD car tore past, and went screaming down the slip road to the mall. Giles sent Buffy to investigate. She wasn't very impressed at having to leave Xander.

"A teenage girl turning down the mall in favour of looking after an invalid? Unheard of!" Giles laughed at his own joke. Spike must have been rubbing off on him.

Buffy sighed and agreed to go and see what was going on.

*

Arriving at the mall, Buffy got out of Giles decrepit heap of a car and trotted over to the unguarded side entrance.

Sloppy, the SPD have only blocked off the main entrances. But, hey, it seems fairly typical of their usual ineptness.

Sneaking through her favourite clothing store, Buffy peeked out of the front window and looked into the main body of the mall. A group of twenty or so vampires were holding every person that had been in the mall hostage in the food court. Further vampires were patrolling the mall looking for stragglers and people they had missed. A vamp near Buffy suddenly veered toward her and she thought she had been spotted. It ignored her and went past, into the next shop, dragging a young girl, no more than 12 or 13.

She was struggling violently, cursing her head off with language that would have made a sailor blush. When she landed a good solid blow to the vampires more vital parts he decided that enough was enough, and quickly drained her. The body collapsed onto the floor completely boneless, and Buffy had to restrain herself from charging the vamp and avenging the girl. She ground her teeth in impotent rage at the loss of an innocent life.

Adam stepped forward into her viewing range, near the people in the food court.

"What the hell are you?" asked Buffy quietly. The vamp that had finished off the girl snapped his head up; he had heard her, and an evil grin spit his features. Approaching the seemingly innocent blonde woman in front of him, surprise was clearly written on his face when a fine stake was thrust through his heart.

However, just before the vampire burst into dust, it managed to call out weakly to his compatriots. The vampires, unsure of what happened approached slowly, were keeping alert for any potential food.

Buffy ducked back into the shadows and cursed quietly to herself. Great. That was all she needed, 30 or so pissed vamps, led by a weird semi-demon. Then instinct kicked in as the vamps closed.

Bursting from her hiding place, a stake in each hand, Buffy dived at the approaching vampires, keeping as quiet as possible so as to not alert the people, or Adam, below.

Ducking under one wild blow, Buffy put a stake through the heart of the offending vamp, while backhanding another, breaking its nose. A vamp attempting to blindside her got a heel in its groin for its trouble, without Buffy even turning round.

Then the vamps seemed to learn some respect and formed a circle around her. Buffy squared off against a Hulk Hogan look alike.

"I'll enjoy eating your heart." Growled the vamp, which then charged.

Buffy spun, allowing the vampire to rush past her, and thrust a stake into its back as it passed. The vampire got about six inches from flattening one of its comrades and burst into a shower of dust, covering the unfortunate.

"Oh, please," quipped Buffy, "raw heart is just sooo _passé._"

"What the hell is going on up there?" roared Adam, launching himself from the ground floor and landing gently on the tiles just in front of Buffy.

His eyes seemed to flicker for a second while a disk drive whirring noise came from his chest.

"Ah. The legendary Buffy. My brother Riley thought very highly of you. Highly enough to jeopardise the goals my mother wishes to achieve. The Slayer! How fortunate! You will make the perfect bait."

"What? Bait? Me? No. I'm sure the fishes wouldn't like me. Too bony." It was out before Buffy could do anything, cursing inwardly, she berated herself saying; _as if one Xander isn't bad enough, I'm picking up his quipping habits._

"Yes. I want you to be the bait for the Avatar that killed my family. His death, in payment for my mother and brother, will be exquisite." With that, he closed the small gap between them, and a razor sharp claw extended from his wrist.

"My, what a big one you've got." Said Buffy, again mentally kicking herself.

"Yes," said Adam, "and I'm sure all the vampires here are just dying for a taste of Slayer blood. Perk them right up, I'm sure." The appendage with the claw attached whipped up, and pierced Buffy's shoulder before she could flinch.

"Argh!" Buffy fell to the floor, her right hand covering her left shoulder trying to staunch the blood loss.

"Guard her!" snapped Adam. "Do not feed on her! If you do, I will kill each and every one of you by dipping you in Holy water!"

"I'm sorry, Xander…" was the last thing Buffy could think or say before she slipped into unconsciousness.

*

Xander was having a relatively peaceful dream, considering that it basically ran along the lines of a previous Avatar murdering an army of nearly 100,000 that had been sent against it.

Which was why it was so unpleasant to suddenly wake up screaming for Buffy, feeling as if someone had torn a hole in his shoulder. Joyce had been in the room, checking on him while Buffy had gone to see Giles, and she was backed up against the far wall, trying to appear as if she wasn't there.

Xander looked down to see the Avatars armour already covering half of him, and quickly flowing down his arms and over his head to form the helm.

"Sorry, Mrs. Summers." He said, and tried to look apologetic, but gave up when he realised that the armour was covering his head, and there wouldn't be any point. He explained his actions quickly, saying "Buffy's in trouble." He didn't know why he knew that, or how, he just knew it as fact.

Joyce seemed to recover slightly when she realised he wasn't going to turn her into _shish kebob_ while he was having a bad dream, and replied, "If Buffy is in trouble, go help her. If it got through that dream, or whatever that was, it must be bad. Hurry!"

Xander nodded, and evaporated into the air.

*

While in limbo, Xander took the time to examine where he could feel Buffy emanating. The mall. Other 'essences' made themselves known, through the hatred of Kayn. Vampires. A lot of Vampires. And one demon; Xander didn't know quite what to make of that one; it didn't match the feeling he got from any demon that any Avatar had encountered. The other overriding scent was one of fear. Pure, unadulterated fear. The demon had taken hostages. A frontal assault, or just appearing in the middle may not be the brightest idea.

Xander solidified in the coffee shop on the second level.

*

"Come out, my friend, or your pretty little Slayer will become vamp food in nothing flat!" Adam greeted Xander as he appeared.

Xander didn't twitch.

"I can smell you, don't deny me vengeance!" Adam shrieked. The hostages looked at each other fearfully. Their captor was a madman, or mad-thing. Whatever. Even the vamps were a little put out. They couldn't smell anyone. Buffy just had an 'oh, brother' look on her face. Thanks to Slayer healing, the claw wound was healing nicely, and Adam hadn't thought to check how fast she recovered. Blood still covered her shirt.

Adam strolled over to Buffy, and picked her up by her collar. "If you don't come out right now, this lovely piece is going to wave 'bye bye' to breathing privileges! Don't think I won't do it!" Adam sounded as if he really had lost it.

Xander still didn't move.

Adam shot out all three claws. He held them at Buffy's stomach, just grazing the skin. "Do you want to see how pretty her guts are? Eh? Come out! I wont say it again!"

Xander sweated under the helm. Adam had him. Buffy was his weak point. He stepped to the rail stopping people from falling to the ground floor.

"Let her go." Xander growled it so low Buffy barely caught it.

"Ah." Adam seemed to sigh, as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Xander jumped off the Walkway and landed softly on the floor, near the hostages. They shrunk away. They had all seen the TV reports showing this exact same guy rampaging round the warehouses. None wanted to be caught in the crossfire.

"Let. Her. Go." Xander repeated, in the same deadly pitch.

"Nothing doing." Smiled Adam, plunging the claws into Buffy's middle.

Buffy's eyes widened in shock. Looking down at the blood suddenly pouring from the three puncture wounds in her belly, and the claws still present there.

"Buffy!" Xander screamed, mortally afraid for her despite her Slayer healing.

"Xand…" Buffy collapsed on the floor in a quickly expanding pool of blood.

"You'll die for that." Snarled Xander at Adam as the bloodlust took over. Xander stood, squaring up Adam, flexing his fists. No one was more surprised than him when the air rippled and the Sword of Kayn appeared in his hand.

"Impressive." Adam seemed wary.

Out of the corner of his eye, Xander noticed a woman hostage approaching Buffy cautiously, as if she was afraid going near her would bring the two fighters down on her. When she got next to her, she started to roll up her sleeves. Xander didn't have time to look any longer.

Xander twirled the sword, and went on the offensive. The blade whistled past Adam's head and embedded itself in the marble floor. Adam leapt up onto the level Xander had arrived on. Xander followed, growling, spinning the blade in an infinity loop.

"Most impressive." All bark and no bite. But the bite he did have was used on Buffy.

Adam suddenly closed the distance between them, and tried to slash the armour with his clawed hand. The claws squealed and slid off. The answering blow was swift and sharp, going no further than necessary. 

It took off the arm Adam tried to block with.

Back-pedalling quickly, Adam tried to gain some room. Xander followed too close to allow it. A swipe by Adam with his claws resulted in the claws being lopped off as Xander forwent niceties, and blocked with the edge of the blade.

Adam dodged any blow that looked as if it may connect. The fight looked as if it would go on forever with Adam's current tactics. Xander tried a new technique. Slicing a blow that was obviously wide, he bounced the tip off of the tiled floor and gouged it up through Adam as he came in to deliver a return blow.

Adam fell in two diagonally, split hip to shoulder. The disk drive continued to whir pitifully.

"Error. System Malfunction. Error…" 

The knowledge of the previous Avatars said that not all demons stayed dead. By the time Xander had finished, Adam was no more than splinters of bone and small computer circuits. Xander stood on some of the computer chips, and soon they were nothing more than silicon dust. The whole fight had taken less than a minute. Cleanup less than 30 seconds.

Xander wasted no time in returning to Buffy.

The vamps Adam had terrorised into working for him ran at the sight of Xander appearing. They were all gone.

Looking at Buffy, Xander saw that the hostage that had approached Buffy appeared to be a nurse or something, because she had tried to complete rudimentary first aid with what ever was available. A silk shirt had been used as gauze, while two heavier shirts had been rolled up and another tied tight over them to act as a simple pressure bandage. Four guys were sitting without shirts. The nurse had succeeded in getting Buffy conscious again, and was sitting by her talking and occasionally slapping her as she tried to slip back into unconsciousness.

The Sword of Kayn disappeared back into the air as Xander collapsed next to Buffy, cradling her. The armour did not slide away.

"Buffy, you're another person I've failed…" moaned Xander.

Buffy was aware enough to deny this. "No. Xand… I… love you."

"Shh. Don't talk." Whispered Xander.

Despite the evident terror the nurse had for him, she managed to blurt out, "She needs a hospital. But she won't get there alive. She's lost too much blood already…" she quickly cut off as Xander snapped his head up. Even though he had a jet-black helm on and she couldn't see his face, she got the distinct impression that it was an order to shut up.

"I'll get her to hospital." Xander's tone said there would be no argument.

The nurse got to her feet and stepped back. Xander rose and picked Buffy up gently, mindful of her wounds. He shifted his stance and seemed to vanish, with Buffy in his arms.

*

While in limbo, Xander was tempted to see if he could fix some of the damage done.

_No. If I try, I could make it much worse. I don't want to loose her. I'll leave it to the professionals. _Xander smiled slightly._ And gut them if they screw up.___

*

Xander materialised round a dark corner outside of the Emergency unit. The armour withdrew. Belting through the door, he screamed out; "Help here! This girl's been stabbed! Hey! I need help!"

Two doctors and a nurse instantly ran over and directed him to lay her on a trolley. While they got Buffy hooked up to an oxygen tank, and pushed the trolley into the emergency operating room.

Xander was left to sit and fret, but managed to work up enough courage to call Joyce, and tell her that he was at the hospital, and that so was Buffy. He didn't tell her she'd been stabbed. Joyce replied she'd be there immediately.

Joyce arrived and Xander filled her in on what had happened, _sotto voce_, so that no one else heard. The last thing he needed was to be strung up for being the Avatar. Xander just held her while she cried. He couldn't do anything else, his tears had been used for people who had been dead a thousand years before he was born, and besides, he didn't want to make Joyce feel worse.

Giles arrived shortly after Joyce had fallen asleep on the chairs, uncomfortable as they were. He had been waiting to pick Buffy up again, once the situation had concluded in the mall, and had been near panic when he couldn't find her. Apparently he had started to question the hostages after they had been interrogated by the police for witness statements, and had a scattered account of how the 'thing' had stabbed a blonde girl twice, once in the shoulder and a triple stabbing in the gut. Others mentioned the Avatar, and the battle between Adam and said Black Figure. The nurse had said that the Black Figure had taken the injured girl and just kind of disappeared. Giles thanked her and, returning to his car drove as fast as he cold to check the hospital, and found Xander and Joyce already there.

"How is she?" asked Giles.

"Buffy? She's in surgery. No ones come out yet to give us any idea of how much longer she's gonna be." Xander looked broken.

"What do you estimate her chances are?" prodded Giles.

Xander looked round at Joyce and lowered his voice so only Giles would hear him. "She was bad, Giles, really bad. She had lost a lot of blood. I'm not sure that even with Slayer healing she'll be OK. I'd say it was about a 20 percent chance of recovery. Any sort of recovery."

Giles looked as if he was about to break down then and there.

Then he forced a positive look on his face. "No." Giles now spoke with certainty while there were only possibilities. "She'll be fine, Slayer healing will take care of the worst. She just needs a long time to heal."

Xander was too hurt to take any crap like that. "Giles," he forced out, "Buffy is in deep trouble. Her Slayer healing would be fine normally, but the damage is far too extensive. Her healing abilities are too overworked, if she does heal properly, she still wont be as good as before. Don't tell yourself otherwise, because you'll be lying to yourself. The Avatar has seen less bad stomach wounds be lethal to some of the greatest warriors in history."

Giles sniffed as a single solitary tear ran down his face. He wiped it away violently, and pulled out a handkerchief to blow his nose on.

"OK." Giles voice now sounded resigned, not the openly hostile tone that Xander had almost expected.

Xander tried to console him slightly after the verbal assault he had given. He laid a hand on Giles shoulder and squeezed lightly. "I'm sure she'll be fine, and remember, the greatest warriors in history didn't have modern technology."

Xander wished he were as confident as he sounded. _As I told Giles, in the Avatars dreams, I've seen Slayers and others equally powerful die from much less, but Buffy died once, and she's still here. Have hope, Xand-man, have hope.___

Giles sat opposite Joyce, and Xander walked down the hall to get a cup of coffee and walk off some of the stiffness the chair had caused in his legs.

*

Consultant Surgeon Eric Tilley strode out of the emergency operating room, pulling off his gloves as he went. Now he had to tell the family what had happened, and other information. Sighing, he scratched at the stubble an eight-hour surgery left him with, and then rubbed his forehead.

Rounding the corner, he ran into what he presumed to be the family of the girl he had operated on. What he presumed to be the mother and father on one side, mother's head resting on the man's shoulder, and his head resting on hers. Either the brother or boyfriend on the other side, wide-awake and way too calm for someone who had that many empty plastic coffee cups sitting on the chair by him.

Eric cleared his throat. The boy's head snapped up, and he stood up to nudge the man and woman. They both awoke groggy and uncomfortable, wondering where they were. You could tell it in their eyes. As soon as they saw the surgeon in blue scrubs, they were fully awake.

The blonde woman asked the first question. "Is she going to be alright, Doctor?"

Eric hesitated, but rallied well. _You don't need to tell them all the details; it will only frighten them. And she will make a recovery, but not a perfect one._ He told the family what they wanted to hear.

"Yes. Whoever did that really did a number on her, but she should make a recovery." The look in the boy's eyes said he didn't believe him. But Xander wasn't about to contradict the surgeon with Joyce there, and wanting some evidence Buffy was fine.

"May I ask what relation you are to Ms. Summers?" Eric said politely. "Mother? Father? Brother?" he continued, waving at each individually.

Xander tried not to choke. Giles raised an eyebrow.

"Mother." Said Joyce, pointing to herself.

"Boyfriend." Murmured Xander, trying not to smile at the word.

"Err… Friend of the family." Said Giles.

"Oh." Said Eric. "My apologies for my error."

"Nah, its fine." Said Xander. "But I wouldn't want to be G-man's son."

This time it was Eric who raised an eyebrow. Giles glared at Xander.

"Can we see her, doctor?" asked Joyce.

"Yes, but she's in the Intensive Care Unit, and we had to sedate her very heavily, so she's still probably unconscious. No more than two at a time please."

Joyce looked at Xander and Giles. 

Xander spoke first. "It's OK, Mrs. Summers. Go with Giles, I'll be there in a little while." Giles and Joyce nodded and followed the directions Eric had given them to find Buffy's room. 

Eric looked expectantly at Xander. "Did you want something else?"

"Yes. Come here." Xander signalled with his hand for the doctor to follow him, and took him round the corner the doctor had appeared from. Once he was sure Giles and Joyce could neither see nor hear him he asked, "What do you think you're doing not telling them what she gonna be like after she's recovered?"

Eric sighed. He knew the boy hadn't believed him. "OK. We don't tell family exactly what we expect to happen straight away because of the shock involved. It also doesn't always turn out that way; sometimes people make a recovery better than we could have dreamed. Ms. Summers is strong and healthy, she could do that."

"Fine. Tell me the verdict without over optimism." Xander's tone was flat.

Eric sighed again, and looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Alright." 

"Well?"

"When she was brought into the operating room, she had lost nearly five pints of blood. Before we managed to get the bleeding stopped, we pumped in just over ten pints. A fully-grown human only holds eight pints, a gallon, of blood. The wound in her shoulder had almost healed; it was quite amazing. The other wounds in her stomach were far more severe. We had to remove her spleen and exteriorise a portion of her colon. The loss of blood put undue strain on her heart and she flat-lined twice on the table. The second time she was gone for nearly two and a half minutes. And…"

"And what?" asked Xander, willing to tear the guys throat out if he didn't tell him.

"I should tell the mother first, but since you're the boyfriend, you'll find out eventually. Might as well be now." He sighed again. "Whatever blades made those wounds nicked her uterus. We managed to patch that as well, but… there's a weak spot there. If she gets pregnant, if it has healed well it may hold, but it may not. If it ruptures with her pregnant, it will kill her. That's about it. I'm sorry."

"That's OK. Thanks for being honest. Thanks, doc." Xander walked off with an air of defeat, and the Doctor stood watching him leave, wishing he had been that in love with his wife.

Xander stopped in at Buffy's room, only to see Giles and Joyce still there. He caught Giles eye and mouthed 'I'll be back in a couple of hours. I'm gonna go patrol." Giles nodded and turned back to watch Joyce crying on the hospital gown which covered her daughter. Resting a hand on her shoulder, he offered her all the comfort he could.

*

Xander took no mercy on the vampires he could find that night. His Avatar abilities seemed to be getting more pronounced every day, and he found every vampire that had been in the mall. Each and every one died swiftly, leaving Xander empty and lacking the rage he hoped would come. Left only with overwhelming despair and worry for Buffy, he headed back to the hospital.

Vampires, once Sunnydale's 'fastest growing community' could now be placed on the endangered species list.

*

Xander got back to the hospital to find that Giles and Joyce had left, and a note had been placed on the table by Buffy's bedside. It read:

Xander. 

_Joyce tired from worrying about Buffy. I'm going to take her home. Look after her.___

Giles.

Xander didn't know how long Giles would be before he came back. He sat by Buffy and gripped her limp hand in his own.

Moving his mouth down to Buffy's ear, Xander whispered to her. "Buffy, I know you probably can't hear me, but you're gonna be fine. The best doctor here patched you up. You've been badly hurt, but you're gonna be fine…" Xander kept repeating this like a mantra in the hope that he could talk Buffy into doing it.

He got the shock of his like when Buffy squeezed his hand and smiled slightly in sleep, or drug induced semi-consciousness or whatever it was.

"I'm right here, Buffy. I wont leave you. Don't worry, just get better for me." Xander kissed her gently on the forehead, and leant back into his seat.

*

An hour later saw the return of Giles and Xander dozing softly in the chair he had been sitting in. Giles chose to leave him. The longer he slept undisturbed the more likely it was that his nightmares wouldn't come back. He would wake up again soon enough.

Giles leaned over Buffy and wiped aside a lock of hair that had fallen over her face. He got the shock of his life when the previously dozing Xander gripped him by the belt, pulling him back, and quickly pinned him against the wall ready to remove his head with his fist.

"Oh! Damn! It's you Giles." Hissed Xander. "Sorry about that." He managed to sound contrite.

"All I did was touch Buffy." Replied Giles in shock. "No need to do that!"

"I saw someone touching Buffy, even though I was asleep, and just reacted. I said I was sorry."

"We had better move you out of here when the doctors come to check on her, otherwise they'll be _pate_ before I can stop you."

Xander just snorted.

Giles looked curious. "How did you know I was touching Buffy if you were asleep?"

"I don't know. I felt something brush my face, but something told me that it was happening to her, rather than me."

"Odd. Almost as if you were linked somehow."

"Giles," said Xander "I held her hand and she responded. Squeezed and smiled."

"That's impossible. She should still be completely under the anaesthesia."

"I know what happened." Xander's tone frightened Giles for a second, as it had gone from caring to flat, venomous and angry in no time at all. "Watch." Xander's voice was a command.

Xander gripped Buffy's had in such a way that Giles would see if her hand flexed at all, and whispered at her, "I love you, Buffy." Her hand tightened and relaxed while a small smile graced her features.

"Amazing." Breathed Giles awestruck.

Xander still had Buffy's hand in his. "I'm gonna go get some coffee, Giles. I'm gagging for a brew, even if it is this hospitals crud. Want some?"

"Yes, please." Replied Giles.

As Xander started to take a step out of the room, Buffy's hand clamped down hard on his. Unprepared for the sudden pressure, Xander cried out, more in surprise than pain. 

"Buff, I need to go get some coffee." Buffy's hand got tighter still.

"OK, Buff… Giles can get the coffee! I'll stay here." Xander looked at Giles apologetically, but Giles waved it off and went to find the coffee machine.

"Turn right twice…" Xander's voice floated after him. Giles nodded to the disembodied voice, and followed Xander's instructions.

*

Xander was the only person that could get any sort of response from Buffy. Giles and Joyce got no reaction when they tried, and neither did the hospital nurses or doctors. If it weren't for Buffy's responses to Xander, Eric Tilley would have declared her to be in an irreversible coma, but didn't have the heart to while she continued to react to Xander's touch and voice.

It was if the two were bonded somehow. This was proved beyond a doubt to all present when a nurse came in with Doctor Tilley to change Buffy's dressings. Xander had been dozing in the chair, just like when Giles had had the same experience. More than dozing, snoring loudly. 

Eric Tilley wished again that his love for his wife had been like the love this boy held for the young woman in the bed. He had hardly left her side for all the time she had been here. He practically lived in the hospital, and the people who emptied the coffee machine of money when it was full must have become millionaires.

Eric Tilley had followed the young nurse into the room, vaguely thinking that she had a nice ass, and watched as she started to cut away the dressing on Buffy's shoulder. The wound had healed perfectly. There wasn't even a scar. Both Eric and the nurse gaped at what should have been impossible. A complete healing of a major trauma to the shoulder in less than a week. Incredible. Unbelievable. But it was true. As the nurse cut away the bandage round Buffy's middle, Xander just shot up and gripped the wrist of the nurse without a word.

"Mr. Harris, what do you think you're doing?" asked Doctor Tilley exasperated.

"Oh. Damn. Sorry, wasn't paying attention there. Felt something tickle my stomach, only, not mine, more… Buffy's."

"Pardon?" Eric and the nurse were completely confused.

Xander shook his head. "Never mind. I'll be back once you've finished."

The nurse completed the removal and stared at the stomach where three deep wounds held together only by silk and wishful thinking should be. The silk was still there, but the holes were healed, but still angry and red, scarred badly.

After that incident, Xander asked the doctors to wake him whenever they did anything, and left the room when they did. Other than that, Xander stayed by Buffy constantly.

Eventually, the head nurse, Sister Miriam Goldberg had had two choices: move Xander into a room next to Buffy's, which he could vacate if it was needed, or force hospital security to remove him. Xander had earned so much respect from the hospital staff for his unfailing devotion that neither she nor the security guards had the heart to do it. So Xander stayed in Buffy's room, while officially living in the room next door, and subsisting on coffee and stale donuts, supplemented by sandwiches brought by the girls mother.

*

After two weeks, Buffy's wounds were completely gone, but she still seemed to remain unconscious. Xander seemed to be her only ray of light, staying with her constantly, day and night.

Giles eventually got a call from Cordelia at Angel Investigations, and remembered that he had completely forgotten to tell them anything about Buffy. He quickly remedied that mistake. Cordelia wasted no time in telling Angel and he, in turn, wasted no time verbally tearing Giles to pieces for forgetting.

The end result was the 'Angel Investigations' crew trailing down to Sunnydale again, this time _sans_ Gunn and Fred. They stayed to 'hold the fort' in case of trouble. Giles warned Xander in advance, he didn't want Xander to rip holes in Angel when he suddenly dropped in.

Angel, Wesley and Cordelia arrived at about midnight. The hospital orderlies were not best impressed to let three people tramp in at midnight and demand to see their most 'famous' patient. Not one doctor missed popping in at least once a day during a break to say 'hi' to Xander and his comatose girlfriend.

They finally relented when Xander came down and explained whom they were. He avoided the bit about Angel being a vamp. Not that the orderlies would believe him anyway, probably just tell him to get a bit more sleep instead of watching his girlfriend get enough for both of them.

Angel and Wesley went in first, while Xander and Cordelia stayed outside to catch up a bit.

"So… you love her huh?" asked Cordelia, Queen of Tact.

"Yeah." Replied Xander, the monosyllabic one.

"And she loves you?" pressed Cordelia.

"She has said so several times, yes." Xander was getting wary.

"I always knew she'd take you from me eventually. I mean, you've lusted after her ever since you met her, right?"

Xander was getting confused as well as wary now.

"Take me from you?" he asked, "I thought you broke up with me. On Valentines of all times."

"Err… yeah. Sorry about that." Cordelia had the good grace to sound embarrassed.

"Got over your guilt trip yet?" Cordelia, Queen of Tact: Redux.

"Um. I can't actually remember having one since Buffy came in here. I'm kind of set on worrying about her instead of having guilt trips. Well, now my guilt trips are centred on not being able to help her, instead of someone who killed a hundred thousand people ten millennia before I was born."

"Were there a hundred thousand people in one place then?"

"Yeah. The Sahara. Only became a desert after Kayn was finished." Xander sounded bored, but not depressed or guilty.

"Oh." Cordelia couldn't say anything else. There wasn't a lot she could say.

Before Xander could speak again, Wesley came out of Buffy's room, nearly cradling a sobbing vamp. Wesley looked choked up as well, but emotion, especially strong emotion, was infectious. Could just be Angel getting to him.

"That bad, huh?" asked Cordelia.

At the sound of Cordelia's voice, Angel tried to get himself together, and succeeded, sort of.

Cordelia and Wesley disappeared inside this time. Angel approached Xander and tried to pin him against the wall. Xander let him; after all, Angel needed to let off some steam. Xander could get out easily.

"You, Xander, failed to protect her. I'll kill you if she doesn't get better."

Xander didn't mention that he had gotten to her faster than Angel ever could, and he had done his best to protect her, but Adam had her before he could do anything. Xander let Angel rail at him, after all, he'd run out of steam eventually.

He stayed quiet.

Angel seemed to expect some sort of response to this accusation, but received none, as Xander almost agreed with him.

…

After about another 20 seconds of being eyeball to eyeball, Xander asked; "Are you quite finished?" Angel seemed to deflate at that, and, realising that with the Avatars powers Xander could chuck him about like a rag-doll if he so chose, backed off.

"We haven't finished this, Xander." He growled.

"Something told me we hadn't." replied Xander calmly.

Wesley and Cordelia chose to break the tension at that moment by appearing again.

"Ready to get back to Rupert's, Angel?" asked Wesley, oblivious of the air of confrontation surrounding the two men.

Angel flicked a look in his direction. "Yeah."

Wesley turned to Xander. "We'll be seeing you soon, no doubt, as we'll be hanging around in Sunnydale for a while."

"Why?" asked Xander. Giles hadn't told him this.

"Krystos is going to arrive in a few days, and we don't see the point in going back to LA only to trail back to Sunnydale a day later."

Xander turned toward the wall and rested his head on it. _Great. Another bloody nutcase out for world domination. Just what this week needed to be really interesting.___

Xander suddenly thought of something. He ran to the payphone and stuck a quarter in. Dialling Giles' number, he swore gently when the answer phone cut in.

"Giles. It's me, Xander. Pick the damn phone up!"

A click was heard as Giles lifted the receiver.

~Xander? ~

"Yeah. I don't have time to explain, but you or Dead-boy or someone go down the Master's crypt and see if the Sword of Kayn is still there."

~OK, Xander, I'll go as soon as Joyce returns from shopping. ~

"She's staying at yours? Buffy'll absolutely love that."

~I know. But nothing below board is going on let me assure you. I…~

A beep cut in and Xander interrupted. "Sorry. Times running out. Thanks in advance for checking. Come tell me the result. Bye!"

~Bye…~ Giles' reply only just made it through before Xander's money ran out.

*

Xander got a worried call the next day from Giles and Wesley. The Sword was still there, but Krystos was on a 'Slayer hunt' and with Buffy's weakened state, it made her easy pickings.

"Don't worry Giles. I'm not gonna let Buffy down this time. Even if I have to demolish this hospital to kill the bastard."

~Please don't. ~ Came the dry response. ~It is the only one Sunnydale has. ~ Xander could hear the smile in his tone even though he tried to hide it.

*

Xander forgot all about Krystos the day Willow came back to Sunnydale.

Apparently, while on their journey, Oz had met another werewolf, and Willow had found them in his cage in the van together after the full moon, completely naked. Willow still couldn't decide which would have made her more put out, finding Oz with another naked man, or with a naked woman, like she did.

When the female werewolf, who Xander eventually found out was named Varucca decided that she didn't like Willow the real trouble started. She thought that wolves should stick together and tried to persuade Oz such by attacking Willow to remove her. Oz wolfed out, and tried to protect her, but she still ended up getting pretty hurt, as much by him completely out of control than by Varucca.

It was then that Oz decided that being a wolf was too dangerous for Willow, and ran away to 'find himself'. All he left her was a note explaining why he did it and his ring on a chain. Willow was broken up about it and just managed to make it back to Sunnydale before her hard money ran out.

While still incredibly worried about Buffy, Xander swore that if he ever saw Oz again he would give him a few life lessons. For example; 'don't run out on your girlfriend when her best friend since birth just got loads of kooky powers' and other variations on a theme.

*

Things really came to a head when, without warning, Buffy woke up.

Xander was sitting in her room, sipping from a cup of coffee that would have tasted better if it had been cats piss. It went all over the floor as the girl he had been looking after, guarding and loving for weeks since she came there, sat bolt upright screaming her head off.

Buffy looked about wildly. She could feel Krystos. In Sunnydale. Well, technically not yet, but nearly. And if she could feel him, he could feel her.

Then she saw Xander, and worry left.

Launching herself off the bed, Buffy enveloped Xander in a bear hug that would have broken his ribs had he not had Kayn's power remaining in him. She forced her lips onto his in a passionate kiss that, for both of them, seemed to go on forever. Xander let the cup of coffee that had been in his hand slip to the floor, the cup bouncing, and coffee splashing everywhere. He was too busy with Buffy to notice.

When they mutually came up for air, Xander could have sworn that Buffy looked perfect. The other thought vying for space in his suddenly single track brain was that if they had held on for any longer, _he_ would have brain damage from oxygen deficiency, not her.

That thought hardly made headway. The one thing running though his head was: _Buffy's OK! Buffy's awake. Buffy's OK…_ on and on, ad infinitum.

"I love you…" he breathed.

"I love _you_…" said Buffy back to him.

Xander swallowed. That line was too much to hope for. A big cheesy grin split his features. A matching one quickly appeared on Buffy's face.

"You're beautiful." Xander said at last. 

Buffy looked down and grimaced. "Even in hospital scrubs?" she asked playfully.

"Especially in hospital scrubs." Replied Xander.

"Should I do this more often then?" She asked impishly.

"God, no. One brain numbing agony per life is more than enough for me." Whispered Xander back.

Buffy smiled like a Cheshire cat. "But hospital gown sex is acceptable, yes?"

Xander smirked. "I'd prefer you naked."

"So would I… I mean… prefer you naked." Buffy grinned wider at her slip.

They hugged again and didn't let go until a hospital intern stepped through the door to check on Buffy's condition. He looked at the cuddling pair and the empty bed and ran out the door calling for Doctor Tilley.

Buffy looked quizzical. "He saved you." said Xander.

"No." whispered Buffy. "You saved me."

The moment was broken as Eric Tilley rushed though the door and slipped over in shock. Xander looked down. There was still coffee on the floor, and it now covered most of the room. Buffy was standing barefoot in a pool of it.

"Sorry." He tried to sound apologetic, but only sounded as happy as he looked.

_Ah. Young love._ Thought Eric Tilley again. _How vibrant it seems.___

"No problem." Tilley said getting up slowly. "You're awake. My I ask how? I was about to write you off as an irreversible coma, and have you transferred to LA where they have a specialist coma care unit."

Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"You've been out since… uh… Adam, Buffy. That was weeks ago." Xander leaned down to her ear, "I've never left your side for more than five minutes."

Buffy smiled slightly and turned her head to kiss him gently on the lips.

"Err… Ms. Summers, we should inform your mother, and Mr. Giles. They have been here every day. Regularly. There are also some tests… we would like to run… before we allow you to leave. I'll leave now to phone your family."

Buffy squealed, and hugged Xander again.

*

When Giles picked up the phone at his home, only to find the doctor from the hospital on the other end, his heart leapt into his throat.

~Excuse me, Mr. Giles. But have you seen Mrs. Summers at all? I called her house, but she wasn't there. ~

"Yes, she's here with me. Said she couldn't face an empty house by herself."

~That's quite all right; you have no need to justify your actions to me. I just called to inform you that Buffy has woken up…~

The rest of the sentence was cut off by a loud whoop from Giles. It was quite unlike him. Joyce wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Giles told he Buffy had woken up.

Joyce practically dragged him out of the door in her haste to get to Buffy.

*

"Buffy!" shouted Joyce ecstatically at seeing her daughter alive and well and awake.

"Hi, mom" replied Buffy. "I missed you." Buffy hugged her mother, not quite as hard as she had Xander, because her mothers ribs wouldn't take it, and endured both Joyce and Giles poring over her, making sure she was OK after all.

"What woke you up? The doctors were close to giving up hope!"

Buffy grinned slightly, "Way to be tactful, mom." She said near her ear. "Make the doc's feel worse."

Joyce glanced over at Eric Tilley and grimaced slightly. "Oops."

"You haven't answered the question yet. Buffy. What woke you up?" Giles wanted an answer, even if she had been out for a few weeks. Buffy seemed more bouncy than ever, as if she had never been hurt.

Buffy suddenly sobered up and shot a quick glance at the doctor in the room. "I don't know." Her manner clearly advertised that she did, but was unprepared to discuss it in front of anyone who wasn't a Slayerette.

Eric Tilley coughed. "I think that you," he waved at Joyce, Giles and Xander, "had better leave until we have completed some tests. Then we will release her if all goes OK. You can grill her for information later."

Xander didn't look at all happy to leave Buffy, but nodded and indicated that Joyce and Giles should go first.

*

Willow sat alone in her and Buffy's dorm room, thinking dark thoughts about Oz, and about Buffy. While she was angry now, it would leave her in time. But just how much time?

Oz. I gave you my heart and you ripped it out and trod on it. You will pay. Dearly.

_Buffy. Finally works up the courage to take the only guy I've loved my whole life. All she did was meet him and he fell in love with her. Xander's too wrapped up in her to see my pain. Well. Both of them will feel my pain.___

A knock on the door snapped her out of her reverie.

"Ah… this is… Wil…Willow Rosenberg's room isn't it?" asked a petite blonde standing outside the door.

"Yes. I'm Willow… hey, I remember you… Tara, right? The Wicca Circle?"

Tara nodded.

"Do you want to come in? I'm not doing anything."

"Yes, please." Tara stepped through the door.

"Did you want anything?" asked Willow, the plotting of revenge forgotten. A friend would snap her out of her dark reverie.

"Uh… you said in the Wicca group that they wouldn't know a witch if one came of and bit them on the butt. I just wondered if that meant you really were a witch or if you were a poser as well."

"No, I'm a witch. And proud of it." Willow puffed up a bit in pride. "In fact, I'm trying to find a spell to turn Amy" Willow gestured at the rat cage, "back into a human. Kind of a long term project, mainly cause I can't find out anything."

Tara stifled a giggle. It was funny, but she thought she shouldn't laugh at another's downfall.

"Do you want to look now I'm here?" queried Tara. "It might be easier with two."

"Right." 

Willow and Tara moved the rat cage to the middle of the floor, and sitting either side, began to search though the remaining books Willow hadn't check yet.

*

Krystos was extremely disappointed at the pitiful vampires that Sunnydale had. After a botched attempt on the Slayers life, almost every vampire was so much dust. Revenge taken by the Slayer's boyfriend, who also happened to be the ex-Avatar of Kayn.

Only six remained.

They weren't even the strongest. Just the best at being near the back and running away as fast as their undead legs would take them.

Then there was Spike.

William the Bloody. Who for some unknown reason had turned traitor and sided with the Slayer and her friends. It made a vampire sick to think that a once strong and highly feared vampire like Spike had been reduced to grovelling for drops of blood from a Slayers Watcher.

He sent the remaining vamps out on Siring sprees. They were to sire a person, and if resistance was encountered in any form, were to flee as fast as possible. Numbers were too low to risk losing more. As Krystos had said when he gave them the order, "Running shouldn't pose a problem. You all seem good at that."

Through these tactics, Sunnydale's vampire population slowly rose again.

*

The time came when Buffy was to be released from the hospital. All the tests that hospitals ran on woken coma patients said that she was fine, and Joyce, Giles and Xander came to take her home.

Buffy stood with Doctor Tilley outside in the fresh air. Xander had arrived a few days before with a set of clean clothes. He reasoned that, even if Buffy was having loads of tests, she didn't have to walk around in an open backed hospital gown. Just seeing that once was enough to fuel Xander's fantasies for a month.

"Bye, Doc." Said Buffy as her mother pulled up.

"Goodbye, Buffy," he replied, "please don't do that again, I don't think Xander could stand it."

Buffy grinned and got in the car.

Xander leaned over and gave her a kiss. Buffy giggled and batted him away.

"Not in front of my mother!" she said shocked.

"Don't worry about it, Buffy, I don't mind. If I was about 15 years younger…" she faded off, to listen to the 'eww' from Buffy and the deep laugh from Xander.

*

The old 'Scooby Gang' was back together. A bit more weathered, a lot stronger, and possessing some deep fractures that could tear the group apart for all time…

*

OK. That's number two finished. In the third, Krystos moves, and Willow and Tara… no… I'm not gonna tell you.

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